Tag Archives: music games

Would you like your students to learn a little bit about famous composers, but you don’t have a lot of lesson time? I’ve made a set of composers you can cut out and glue on the inside of a milk caps. I used card stock and Elmer’s ‘Extreme School Glue Stick’.

If you don’t have a set of caps available, ask your piano parents to collect them for you. My students really enjoyed bringing the caps to me. I have enough now to last as long as I teach piano!

If you don’t have caps, the printable is made with a cutting grid, so you can cut out the composers as small cards. However, my students really liked the milk caps and thought they were a lot of fun, so I encourage you to make them that way.

I had a hard time deciding which composers to include. If I’ve left off your favorite classical composer, leave a comment and when I get enough suggestions, I’ll make a second set! Stick to the old composers because the portraits of modern composers are protected by copyright, although I can use just their name and not a picture.

An important part of the game is for students to say the composer’s name as they turn over the cap to help them learn the correct pronunciation. After a while, they will be saying Tchaikovsky and Chopin like a pro!

This printable is for private use only. You are welcome to print this and use it with your students. Please read the first page and follow the terms of use included in the PDF.

Objective

To become familiar with the names of the great classical composers.

To learn how to pronounce their names.

To reinforce visual recognition skills.

Ages

All ages of students.

Number of Players

Two or more players. The teacher can play with a student, or students can play in groups.

Materials

Sixteen plastic beverage caps (lids) the size of milk jugs.

The PDF printable included in this post.

Scissors and glue stick to construct the playing pieces.

If caps are not available, the cards can be cut out and used.

Directions

Print and cut out the pictures of the composers, cutting them in small circles that fit the inside of the lids.

Glue the composer pictures on the inside of the plastic caps.

Place the caps on a table, face down, with four rows and four columns and the composer face not visible.

Players take turns selecting two caps and turning them to the picture side to see if they match.

Students say the names of the composers as they turn the caps.

If the two caps are the same, the player gets to keep them. If not, they return the caps to the same spot, face down again.

I believe this is the first “computer-made” game I posted on my website to share with others. It has been downloaded many times by music teachers all over the world. When I originally made it, I didn’t know how to combine PDF files into a multi-page document and I’ve always intended to fix that.

So I finally did! While I was at it, I remade the art on the game board and the step and skip cards. Styles change, just like clothes, and I learn how to do things better.

I also reduced considerably the number of cards that go along with the game. Plus, I made the new cards to fit business card size card stock, which so many teachers have asked me to do so they don’t have to cut anything.

If you have never printed the old Step Skipping Along game, you might want to try out this new version. The directions are very simple. Even so, it is a helpful game that helps students recognize steps and skips quickly, and that makes them better sight-readers.

Objective

To recognize seconds, thirds, and repeated notes on the bass and treble staff

Ages

All students who are working on steps and skips on the staff

Material

Game token for each player

Game Board printed on card stock

Step and skips cards printed on business card stock, or cut if printed on regular card stock

Optional cards with written instructions

Directions for 2 players

The first player draws and identifies a card as a step, skip, or repeat.

If it is a repeated note, the student stays in the same place.

If it is a third, the student moves his token forward, skipping the note next to the one he is on. Skips will be to notes of the same color.

If the note is a second, the student moves his token forward to the next note. It will be a note of a different color.

If a student draws an (optional) card with text, he follows the directions.

The first player who reaches “finish” is the winner.

The optional cards with written instructions speed up the game if you have very limited time.

Why I like this game

The directions are easy and I don’t forget how to play it.

It focuses on one skill: reading steps, skips, and repeats.

It is a very fast game that a teacher can play with a student in less than 5 minutes

It is good for all ages of beginners.

[Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate, which means that if you buy something from my Amazon store, I earn a few cents, which helps support the website. Also, it is a way for me to show you what product I am referring to.]

I’ve been testing out my new elementary level St. Patrick’s Day game, Pot of Gold, and it is fast and fun! It is a board game, where students answer a music question, roll a die, and move their pawn.

This is a big file so it might take some time to download. There are 8 pages, including 6 pages of elementary level cards: keyboards, notes, vocabulary, intervals, and key signatures. If you like to print a colorful back to your game cards so they look more professional, I included that, too. Scroll through all the pages included in this file and only print what you want. If you don’t know how to print the back to the cards, check out the FAQ at the top of my blog.

However, there is a little secret to this game. It is very much like my Thanksgiving game, Chasing the Turkey. So if you have already printed the cards to that game and you are in a hurry or want to save ink, you can use the Chasing the Turkey cards. I made this set of cards because I like to keep the game boards and cards together so I can find them quickly.

I printed the game board on card stock and laminated it, but I did not laminate the cards. I separate the cards by level before we play. I store board games in folders with pockets that I buy on sale at the beginning of the school year. On the inside of the folder, I glue the rules of the game because I forget the rules!

One of my older students was watching his brother as we played. “Hey, you’re giving him the answers,” he said. Then he quickly said, “But I guess if you don’t, he won’t learn anything.”

“You’re exactly right,” I said. The purpose of this game is to learn, and if he doesn’t know the answer, I help him out so he will!”

Objective

To review previously learned musical symbols, intervals, key signatures, the notes of middle C position, and some music vocabulary words.

To enjoy a seasonal game.

Ages

Grades 1-4, using the appropriate cards for the concepts students have learned.

Materials

Game board.

Cards printed with various musical symbols and terms.

One die.

On pawn for each player.

Directions

The game can be played with two or more players.

Print the game board and cut out the cards.

Each player puts his token on the game board. The first player draws a card and answers the question. If he doesn’t know the answer, give him hints until he gets it correct.

Then he rolls the die and moves the number of spaces on the die. If he lands on a circle with instructions, he follows the instructions, such as taking a short cut, or moving back to Start.

The game continues in the same way with the other players.

When playing with a pre-school child, let him win most of the games so he will want to play again.

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